Various services exist that allow individuals to receive marketing offers via their mobile devices, such as mobile phones. Such electronic marketing offers are known as “mobile coupons” or “m-coupons.” To utilize typical mobile marketing services, one first enrolls with the service by providing his mobile phone number via a website or by sending a text message to the service from his mobile phone. For example, to use the PingRewards service, one accesses the company's website via the Internet and registers his name, mobile phone number, and a password, and selects participating stores from which he wishes to receive offers. As another example, NetInformer allows an individual to register by sending a text message to its service, which then responds with a text message asking the person if he wishes to enroll, to which he responds to do so. Once the individual is enrolled, these services periodically provide m-coupons to his registered mobile phone. In addition, some services allow one to request offers for a particular merchant online rather than waiting for delivery. For example, an individual can access a mobile marketing service website, locate a merchant by city, select an offer from that merchant, and then provide his mobile phone number so that the service can send him the m-coupon as a text message. However, although one can authorize the service to provide similar offers automatically, the initial request is limited to a website interface and, therefore, an individual must have Internet access to request a particular m-coupon. Furthermore, each time he wishes to request a different type of m-coupon, he must access the website and repeat the procedure.
The aforementioned mobile marketing services provide text messages containing offer information. The frequency of distribution is dependent upon the service. To redeem the m-coupon, the recipient provides the offer information, such as a coupon code included in a text message, at a point of sale (“POS”) with the appropriate merchant. Typically, the individual either presents the display of his mobile device to the clerk operating the POS or reads the offer information from the display to him.
While such services are arguably more convenient than traditional marketing methods, such as coupons, they are not without their faults. Current mobile marketing systems lack a mechanism for ensuring that offers sent to a recipient's mobile device are actually of interest to him. For example, although PingRewards and NetInformer provide their services free of charge, the recipient is liable for any charges he may incur from his mobile carrier for using such services. That is, since the m-coupons are delivered as text messages, the recipient's mobile carrier bills him appropriately for receiving text messages. While a text message charge could be negligible, one could grow frustrated if he is charged for an m-coupon of no interest to him. Although current mobile marketing services may allow a participant to specify one or more merchants from which he wishes to receive offers, a merchant may offer a variety of products and thus be associated with a wide range of m-coupons. As the recipient lacks a sufficient avenue to refine his preferences with the service and, likewise, as the mobile marketing service (and thus, the product provider) has no method of ascertaining which distributed offers the individual is actively reviewing, the service may provide him with offers for an overly broad range of products. As the individual may only be interested in a few of the merchant's products, if he continually receives m-coupons that are of no use to him, he may grow dissatisfied with the service, and possibly the merchant as well. Moreover, mobile carrier fees (e.g., text message charges) could accumulate if the mobile marketing service provides m-coupons frequently and/or via multiple messages. Unless the recipient utilizes the majority of the m-coupons he receives, he could spend more money receiving m-coupons than he saves redeeming them.
Additionally, traditional m-coupons are typically sent one at a time with each message containing coupon information to be presented during the transaction. As it can be cumbersome for individuals to peruse multiple m-coupons stored in a mobile device, such as in its text message inbox, this may be unappealing to the recipient. For example, a person may only be able to open one message at a time, have to delete uninteresting or expired m-coupon messages, save interesting ones, and so on. Furthermore, receiving a separate message for each m-coupon can make it difficult to associate related m-coupons or to prioritize them. A recipient can also have trouble finding an m-coupon on his device. For example, since the character limit of a text message subject header is typically too small to reveal much information about the offer, one has to open each text message to ascertain its contents. Such problems lessen the appeal of m-coupons, and consequently one could be less inclined to review them. This could make time-sensitive offers less effective, as they may expire before a recipient has had sufficient time to examine them.
In addition to the problems typical m-coupons can cause for individuals, they also can be less appealing to product providers, such as merchants and manufacturers. For example, text messaging functions, such as Short Message Service (“SMS”), are typically limited to ASCII characters only, and therefore do not allow for graphical product placement. That is, a text message is typically limited to a short, black and white text description, rather than a colorful, graphic advertisement. Furthermore, a text message is generally limited to a maximum of 160 characters, which can limit the number of offers presented in a message (e.g., only one).
Regardless of the method of delivery, such mobile marketing services require that the recipient present information obtained from his mobile device while at a POS. If an individual wishes to redeem more than one m-coupon, he must present the information for each one. For example, although the service Cellfire does not utilize text messages, it still requires that one present a coupon code at a POS. Thus, although such mobile marketing services may provide greater convenience when acquiring offers, requiring the recipient to present his mobile device or provide offer information during the transaction makes such services little better than traditional coupons during redemption. Additionally, a person may find it inconvenient to use his mobile device while he is at a POS (e.g., to navigate through his text message inbox or to use an application), especially if he must do so for each m-coupon he wishes to redeem. For example, if a store is particularly busy, one may not wish to sort through his text message inbox while other customers wait behind him.
While the MobileLime service does not require individuals to present offer information at a POS, its services are limited to the loyalty programs of participating merchants and cannot present offers unrelated to such programs. The MobileLime service allows individuals to register merchant loyalty card numbers with their MobileLime account via the MobileLime website. When the individual is conducting a transaction at that merchant, he provides his mobile phone number at the POS instead of his loyalty card (e.g., types it in via a PIN pad or speaks it to the clerk). One can also opt to receive text message alerts from such merchants. While this configuration alleviates the need to carry a particular merchant's loyalty card, the individual is limited to receiving discounts associated with the merchant's loyalty program. The MobileLime service is not enabled to provide the individual with direct offers from manufacturers or the like. Furthermore, as the MobileLime service is tied exclusively to loyalty programs, it is of no benefit when a person shops at a store without a loyalty program or at a store with a loyalty program in which he has not enrolled.
The aforementioned mobile marketing services all operate under the assumption that the holder of the mobile device is the authorized m-coupon recipient and that he will be the individual redeeming the m-coupon. This scenario may be sufficient if a participating product provider is not concerned with precision regarding receipt or redemption. However, if a product provider wishes to ensure that only the proper individual receives the m-coupon and redeems it, such solutions are inadequate. For example, a product provider may wish to distribute m-coupons of a sensitive nature, such as offers related to an individual's healthcare or for age-restricted products, and, as such, receipt by the proper person is highly important. However, because the receipt of the m-coupon is not explicitly tied to the recipient, delivery and redemption accuracy cannot be ensured. Another person could appropriate (e.g., borrow or steal) the proper recipient's mobile phone and view such m-coupons instead of the desired recipient. Additionally, a product provider could wish to ensure that only the correct recipients redeem distributed m-coupons (e.g., to evaluate the effectiveness of the offer), yet current services lack a way to do so. For example, an m-coupon could be designed for a particular target group, such as men between the ages of eighteen and thirty. Even if the correct recipient receives the m-coupon, he could allow someone else to utilize it, such as by loaning his mobile phone, or by sharing the offer information. Moreover, for services such as MobileLime, another individual need not be aware of a particular offer, but rather need only provide the individual's identification information (e.g., mobile phone number) at the POS to attempt to redeem associated offers. For such reasons, an individual outside the target group can redeem the m-coupon and the mobile marketing service, and the product provider, has no way of knowing this. If the product provider analyzes the use of its offers to refine and evaluate its marketing strategy, the accuracy of this information can be of critical importance. For example, a product provider could mistakenly determine that an offer was a success because it was redeemed, but be unaware that the targeted recipient did not use it. As such, the product provider could continue to provide him with similar offers, even though the recipient has no interest in them.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and system that can provide a convenient mechanism of receiving and using relevant information, an effective way of ensuring that only the appropriate recipients are utilizing such information, and an accurate manner of reporting the use of the information.